Joan was a peasant girl from Domrémy, in the Duchy of Bar (present-day France), who claimed to have received visions from God instructing her to lead the French army to victory in the Hundred Years War. She was born into a devoutly Catholic family and received a basic education, learning to read and write. She was also skilled in spinning, weaving, and other domestic tasks. At the age of 13, she began to experience visions, which she believed were from God and the saints. She claimed that the visions instructed her to go to the Dauphin Charles and lead the French army to victory. In 1429, she convinced the Dauphin to give her command of a small army, which she led to victory at the Battle of Orléans. She was later captured by the English and burned at the stake as a heretic in 1431.